GRAND FORKS, N.D.-- The University of North Dakota volleyball team earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Team Academic Award, announced recently by the organization. The team achieved a cumulative 3.461 grade point average last season.

"This is an outstanding accomplishment as the team had so many on-court achievements in its first year in the Big Sky Conference and coupled that with such success in the classroom," said UND Assistant Athletics Director of Athletics Academic Services Amanda Hajdu. "It takes pure motivation to be a Division I student-athlete and to dedicate the time required of athletics and academics.”

The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.

"Excellence doesn't happen by accident, either on the court or in the classroom," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "It takes consistent preparation, relentless effort, and determined leadership. A full year of academic achievement, by an entire team of individual students, is a remarkable achievement. What better way to start a new season than with a celebration of an award so emblematic of all that is necessary for sustained success."

NCAA Division I recorded their highest-ever total number of recipients, honoring over 130 programs in the 2012-13 season.

North Dakota begins its season Aug. 24 with a Green-White scrimmage followed by the UND Classic to open the regular season Aug. 30-31. UND will welcome Iowa State, South Dakota State and Texas A&M for an impressive field for its annual tournament.